


I want auroras and sad prose

by fallendarknight86



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: AU, Au pair Dani, Bartender Jamie, Drama, F/F, Femslash, Jamie and Dani deserve a happy ending, One Night Stands, One Shot, Romance, Sexual References, Smut, There are no ghosts, alternative universe, mentions of a dead boyfriend, sort of open ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:54:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27583003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallendarknight86/pseuds/fallendarknight86
Summary: What if Jamie happens to take an interest in the pretty American girl sitting in her pub? What if the Dani's run ends into a  sarcastic British bartender's arms? What if these two worlds collide? How a one night stand turns into something more recurring and why not, something more?
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Comments: 8
Kudos: 177





	I want auroras and sad prose

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second fic in the Dani/Jamie universe and it is sort of AU, even if some quotes and references are borrowed from the original storyline. 
> 
> Title inspired by the song "The lakes" by TS (cause every song fits these two star crossed lovers)

** I want auroras and sad prose **

She had spotted her as soon as she had walked through the door of the pub. They all knew each other in Bly and she was definitely not one of those old folks that came at night, after a long shift at the factory down the street. 

Jamie had seen girls in her life. She had taken an interest in them since she was still a troubled teen moving around foster homes, without a family raising her the way she deserved. She had seen any kind of girl. From those who were as damaged as she were, to those who despised her in the day and sought her touch at night, in the backseat of their expensive cars and away from their boyfriends’ gazes. 

But she had never seen someone like her. With her perfect face and posture, like someone coming out of an etiquette manual but who was slowly letting it all go, under the pressure of an obvious bad day. 

The suit jacket had been discarded to the side, along with the purse and headband that kept her hair together, now free to fall on her hunched shoulders in a golden wave. 

Gone was her straight posture too. She was crouched over the bar counter, going through the newspaper without really reading it. No one read that fast.

“You know her?” Owen startled from her thoughts. 

“Not yet.” She furrowed her brows when one of the patrons seemed to have noticed her too. He strolled over to where she sat, with a confidence that smelled like the three pints he had been drinking all night. 

“Go save her, then.” He put a fresh pint and nudged her towards the blonde, who was still unaware of the attention she had caught.

“Arsenal is shite this year.” He had caught the title of the sports’ section. “What do you root for?”

“Sorry?” She looked up from the paper to see him. 

“You’re new around here. What does a pretty girl like you have to do with the ol’ Bly?” He sat on a stool away from her, facing her. “You’re too pretty to work in a charcoal factory.”

“I don’t. I mean…” She furrowed her brows and looked away. 

“Mike, Dan is looking for you.” Jamie chose that moment to step in and replace the empty glass with a fresh pint, earning a warm smile from the pretty blonde.

“He can wait. We were getting to know each other, right babe?” He tipped the hat back, revealing a pair of blue eyes that would have made any girl swoon. 

“I don’t want to keep you from your friends.” The girl nodded softly and looked behind him, where his friend was obviously waiting for him.

“Fine, but don’t leave yet.” He winked at her and stood to go meet his friend and walk back to the tables they shared. 

“Thank you.” The blonde looked at the brunette in front of her, arms crossed and a pair of chocolate eyes that were reading through her soul. 

“You did fine on your own.” Jamie cocked her head to stare down at the blonde in front of her. “Rough day?”

“Job interviews are stressful.” The blonde took a sip of the cold beer in front of her. “Do you know where the Wilgrave estate is?” 

“The manor on the hill? What about it?” Jamie looked over her shoulder to see if Owen needed any help from her. 

“Mr. Wilgrave hired me to look after his niece and nephew and tutor them.” She sipped slowly. “Do you know them?”

“Who doesn’t?” Jamie chuckled softly. “So, Poppins, you came all the way here from the New World to tutor Henry’s kids?”

“Poppins?” She raised an eyebrow questioningly. 

“You’re going to be a nanny, aren’t you?” Jamie smirked and caught the customer waving at her in her peripheral vision. “Hold your horses, Jake.” She turned to pour the guy a familiar glass of Scotch and slid it over him, across the counter. 

“I am not a nanny.” She huffed in protest. “I have a PhD. I got it here in London, if you may want to know.”

“That’s impressive, Poppins.” She gave her a lopsided smile. 

“It’s Dani.” She slammed her hand on the counter, making a point. “My name is Dani.” 

“Alright, Dani.” Jamie chuckled at her attitude. “Don’t need to get your panties in a wad. Get a drink, God knows you’ll need it before you get to work tomorrow.”

“I love kids.” Dani took a long sip anyway. 

“I am sure you do.” She winked at her and turned around to help Owen serve the customers at the other end of the bar. 

************

When Jamie walked out of the pub, leaving it to Owen to close, she was surprised to find a familiar blonde sitting on one of the steps of the house across from the pub, wrapped in her coat that was not doing much to keep her warm.

“Poppins, you alright?” Jamie lit a cigarette up on the way across the street and looked down at her. “You feel sick or something?”

“I forgot the hostel I am staying at locks at 11 PM.” She sniffed and buried her face into the collar of the coat. 

“Well, I live right here and I could always offer you my couch.” She pointed to the windows two floors above the pub. “Small but it is mine.” 

“You don’t even know me.” Dani raised to her feet and followed the brunette back on the other side of the road and into the building. 

“You don’t strike me like a thief or a serial killer, am I wrong?” She pushed the door open with a shoulder and switched the lights on. “Welcome to my humble abode.” 

“It’s nice.” Dani stepped in and looked around the small living and kitchen area. It was small but homey. Better than her last apartment in New York. 

“Yeah, not too bad and cheap enough for my bartender and part-time gardener payrolls.” Jamie took her jacket and shoes off and offered to take Dani’s. 

“You’re a gardener?” Dani let her take her coat and placed her heeled boots to the side, going back to her natural height. 

“On the weekends.” She padded to the kitchen area. “Do you want anything to drink? I have beer and red wine and milk?” She made a disgusted face at the milk carton sitting in her fridge. “Maybe milk ain’t a good option.”

“You have tea?” Dani leaned against the counter behind her. 

“Am I English or not? Of course I have it, Poppins.” She grabbed a couple of tea bags and put some water on. 

“It’s Dani…” She frowned realising she didn’t even know her name.

“Jamie.” She smirked over her shoulder. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.” She handed her one of the mugs and stood in front of her, blowing the hot steam off her own.

“Are you always so-“ Dani sat her mug aside and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Witty? Funny? Charming?” She took a slow sip, eyes on the blonde who was even more frustrated by her irony. 

“Frustrating.” Dani took a bold step forward and stood in front of her, looking into her eyes with a daring look. 

“I am so frustrating, yet I am the only one who offered you a place to stay. Should I reconsider that?” Jamie shrugged and went to move past the blonde, who simply took her by the elbow, making spill some of the tea on the floor. “Poppins!”

“It’s Dani. I told you.” She turned the brunette in her arms and leaned forward to kiss the protests away from her open mouth. Dani’s hand slipped behind her neck to hold her in place, while their mouths met in a frenetic kiss. In a battle of pointless dominance. 

************

“Geez, Poppins. Are you sure it was your first time with a woman?” Jamie fell back against the pillows, crossing her arms behind her head and smirking down at the blonde, who was kissing her way back up to her mouth. 

“Dani.” She hovered the brunette in all her naked glory and reached behind her head, to thread their fingers together. 

“Dani.” Jamie breathed raggedly against her lips. She leaned in to swipe her tongue across her inviting mouth. She had never kissed a woman for so much and for so long, but it felt like she couldn’t breathe without her kisses. The more they kissed, the steamier things had been between them. 

“Jamie…” Dani moaned out when her lips trailed along the side of her neck. Her nails pressed into Jamie’s palms, when she felt her teeth scrape the skin below her pulse, making it impossible not to push her hips forward in hope for some sort of release. 

“You taste so good.” Jamie took that moment to roll them over and settle between her long legs. It was her turn to pin Dani’s hands down, each side of their heads. 

“Tell me about it.” Dani made a show of licking her own lips. She did it again, catching the lingering taste of Jamie’s arousal left there. 

“I came twice and I am still dripping for you.” Jamie pushed her hips forward. She rubbed herself against the other girl’s thigh, who was doing the same. 

“We’ve got all night.” Dani freed herself from her grip and cupped her heated cheeks, pushing back the curly hair framing her face. 

“I have the morning off.” She leaned in to brush her lips over Dani’s. She teased her with the slowness of her kiss, that Dani simply arched her back to feel her closer. To feel the length of her, against hers. 

“I can’t stay.” Dani bit down on her bottom lip. If it hadn’t been for the new job, they wouldn't have even met. They would have missed out on this. 

“Shame.” Jamie pecked her lips and rested their foreheads together. “I would’ve made it worth your while.”

“I have no doubt about it.” Dani rolled them back over and sat up, astride her lap. “But I could come back?”

“You’re sure?” Jamie followed her along. She sat up and cradled her in her arms. She cradled Dani against her, needing to keep her close even if the heat of the moment was not as high as before. Even when they were just talking, naked in her bed. 

“Yes.” Dani’s fingers threaded through her tousled hair. “I could come back.” 

“There will be other nights.” Jamie arched her neck to meet Dani’s lips in a soft kiss. “We can have more nights.”

“You promise?” Dani smiled against her lips and pushed her back down, covering her body with hers while her hand fell between them, towards the place Jamie seemed to love the most. 

************

Waking up to an empty bed that smelled like someone else’s had not been too pleasant. They had fallen asleep together, still pressed up in a mess of limbs and blankets in the early hours of the day and when Jamie had woken up, Dani was gone. 

She had tried to shrug the thought of being nothing but another one night stand off. Another notch in the bedpost, even if Dani had suggested to come back herself. She had said it multiple times, while they rolled around and brought each other to pleasurable heights. She had said it again when they took breaks during the several rounds and Jamie had heard it, in a state of semi unconsciousness, when Dani had left her asleep in her own bed. 

“Earth to Jamie.” Owen nudged her in the side, startling her away from her thoughts. “What’s with the long face?”

“Nothing. I am just tired.” Jamie resumed her activity behind the counter. She kept on rinsing the beer glasses, with the same pensive look. 

“You’re pulling long hours huh? Might that have something to do with the pretty American who just came in?” He said it right against her ear and if he hadn’t been fast enough, she would have probably hit him with her own head, while giving herself a whiplash. “Geez, have some self consciousness, Taylor.” 

“Shut up, Owen.” Jamie wiped her hands on the apron tied around her waist and just walked towards the other side of the counter, where Dani was taking her seat. “Poppins, you’re back.” 

“You’ll never stop calling me that, will you?” Dani held her chin up on her hand and wore a soft smile. She wasn’t really mad about that nickname, after all. 

“Nope.” She made a show of accentuating the ‘p’ for Dani’s enjoyment. “What can I get you?” 

“A beer and your number?” She beamed at Jamie, who looked away briefly. 

“What do I get back for it?” Jamie leaned over, bracing herself on the counter, to look down into Dani’s blue eyes. She could really lose herself in them. 

“Money.” Dani brushed her fingers over the back of Jamie’s hands. “And maybe a call in the middle of night, when my bed feels a bit too cold?” She had leaned forward enough to whisper those words against Jamie’s lips. 

“Poppins, you flirt.” Jamie resisted the temptation of leaning forward and getting reacquainted with Dani’s taste and texture. 

She had kept replaying their only night together over and over again, until she couldn’t not just do anything about it. It was the only way she knew to get a good night of sleep. 

But this woman was going to be the death of her. She was going to haunt her despite her attempts to move on from her. She was going to linger on her, like a tattoo kiss. She was going to mark her skin and she wasn’t sure she wanted to do anything to avoid it, after all. 

************

“Can I ask you something?” Jamie’s eyes shot open when that voice interrupted her slow descent towards Morpheus’ arms. 

“What is it, Poppins?” Jamie yawned in the crook of her elbow and nuzzled it, trying to find a position that was equally comfortable and would allow her to stare up into her curious eyes. 

“How did you get this?” Dani scooted closer to her, loosely wrapping one of her long legs around her bare thigh and brushed her fingertips over the scar on her shoulder. She brushed her fingers so lightly over it, that Jamie wondered if she was imagining it in her head. 

“It’s a long story.” Jamie closed her eyes. She closed them not to show the unshed tears pooling there. Not to show how the memories of her past still pained her and, sometimes, made it hard to breathe. 

“Okay.” Dani leaned over to drop a soft kiss there and then nuzzled it with the tip of her perfect nose. Her hand slid along the length of her back to slip under the hem of the blanket they were sharing. She simply caressed her skin, slowly and tenderly. As if Jamie could break under her touch. As if she could hurt her. 

“What are you doing here, Dani?” Jamie rested her cheek on the mattress and looked at her over her shoulder. 

“I think that’s pretty obvious, don’t you think?” Dani smiled and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on the corner of her lips. “Do you want me to go?”

“No.” Jamie whispered automatically. She didn’t give it a thought and she simply circled her back with her other arm, keeping her there, pressed up against her. “I meant here, in Bly.” 

“It’s a long story.” Dani looked away from her. She hid her face against her shoulder and kept on stroking along her spine with her fingers. She had a story to tell but Jamie didn’t need to know right then, in that moment. She could wait. Like Dani would, with her. 

“Okay.” Jamie nodded and nudged her back enough to roll on her side, facing her. “How long will you be staying?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” She scooted close enough to feel Jamie’s breath on her lips and the shape of her chest against hers. There was nothing separating them under the thin blanket, thrown haphazardly over their nude bodies. 

“One day at a time.” Jamie nodded and tentatively leaned in to brush her lips over Dani’s. She didn’t know why she was being so cautious. They had done things, together and to each other that would make anyone blush. Yet, she wondered if she could scare Dani away. She wondered if she had a good reason to be scared herself. 

“One day at a time.” Dani’s fingers threaded through her hair, brushing her thumb over the shape of her ear and tugged her forward by it, inviting her closer. 

She pulled her close enough to feel the whole length of their bodies pressed together, intimately. She pulled her close enough to feel Jamie’s heartbeat fall in sync with hers. It was steady and strong. It felt like they were always meant to beat in unison. 

“Should I set an alarm for ya?” Jamie nibbled on her bottom lip and felt the blonde pull her closer with her leg, hoisted over her waist. 

“No, Mr. Wilgrave is at the estate and I have the morning off.” Dani held her breath when Jamie’s hand lowered between their bodies, brushing over the skin of her inner thigh. She was so dangerously close to cup her, where she had touched her the most and still craved to be touched. How could she be so addicting?

“That’s…” Jamie brushed her fingers over her intimacy and looked up into her eyes, seeing them turn darker by the second. “Perfectly splendid.” Leaning forward, she captured her mouth in a hard kiss to muffle her familiar moans.

************

She couldn’t really label what they were doing. She could not and she didn’t want to, really. She hated labels and she hated how people were supposed to live up to the expectations of what labels brought along. So, they just lived the moment. There were no dates. There were no plans. They met up, depending on when Dani had an evening off away from the manor and she always managed to find her way back to the old pub, where Jamie served. 

She managed to find her way back to the same stool, with the same beer and the same flirty smile and frustrating nickname. She managed to find her way back into her arms, that held her at night during their heated moments between the sheets of Jamie’s comfortable bed. It was a habit. It was their habit. 

“You hungry?” Jamie rummaged through the cabinets of her small kitchen. “I can make you something, even if cooking isn’t my best quality.” 

  
“What is it, then?” Dani pushed her against the counter and pinned her there, with her body. 

“Eating.” Jamie’s arms slipped around her waist, untucking the purple sweater out of the jeans that she was wearing. “Don’t you think, Poppins?” She was high enough to drop her mouth along the side of her jawline, nipping her way up to her ear. 

“You flirt.” Dani whimpered softly. Her hands tangled into Jamie’s hair and tugged her by it, leading her back down towards her neck. She loved being kissed there. She loved being kissed. She loved being kissed by Jamie, actually. 

“You’re usually naked by now.” Jamie’s fingers worked her jeans down her legs and Dani simply kicked them away, not caring where they landed. She was going to worry about it in the morning, when was supposed to rush back to the manor. 

“So are you.” Dani tugged her by the front of her overalls and pushed her harder against the opposite counter, working the straps down the shoulders. She heard the sound of something hitting the floor, at their feet, but she didn’t really care much. She just wanted her naked and under her. Or above her. Same thing, really. 

“Poppins…” Jamie pushed her away from the broken glass on the floor and slowed her down. Where was the fire? They had all night to do it. “Dani.” She tried louder and that stopped the blonde from divesting her completely. 

“What...is something wrong?” Dani took a step back but Jamie kept her there, against her. She kept her against her front and used her other hand to brush the loose strand out of her blue eyes. 

“Are you alright?” Jamie brushed her fingers along her forehead. She traced the wrinkle between her furrowed brows and then moved lower, to trace the shape of her lips with her thumb. “What’s the rush?” 

“It’s...It’s nothing. You don’t want this?” She felt naked, out of the sudden. She felt naked and exposed and she just wished she hadn’t kicked her jeans so far, after all. She wished she could put them back on and maybe get out of the door. 

“Not what I said.” Jamie let the overalls drop on the floor at their feet, evening the score with the blonde in front of her. She could tell she wasn’t comfortable. Not as she usually was, of course. “Did something happen? Did the Gremlins get on your nerves?”

“Gosh, no.” Dani chuckled softly, releasing a sigh she didn’t realize she was even holding in. “Someone I used to know died on this day, a year ago. It happened right in front of me.” 

“That’s what you’re running from, Poppins?” Jamie pulled her down to rest her head into the crook of her neck. She held her there, rubbing the back of her neck and between her shoulders as Dani leaned heavily on her. 

************

When she woke up, she became aware of two things. It was still the middle of the fucking night and, secondly, the bed was shaking. 

It was not an earthquake. It was not the kind of shaking that she usually put her bed through. It was something else. It was someone else, actually. Jamie switched the bedside lamp on and leaned over Dani, who was frantically reaching for someone with her hands out. 

She was shaking and muttering something under her breath. She was sweating, not the good kind that she had witnessed during their past nights together. Not the good kind she had left Dani in, when she had curled into her own arms. When she had curled into her own overheated body. 

“Dani…” Jamie hovered her. She didn’t know what to start with. Was she supposed to just shake her? Slap her into awakeness? She perched herself on her knees and grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping from thrashing around in the bedsheets. “Dani, wake up…” She reached for her wandering hands, before she could get a slap out of it and pinned them down. Dani kept on moving under her, trying to get out of her grip but she resisted and just used her knees to keep her hands down, while her hands cupped each side of her face. “DANI!” She shouted it close enough to finally wake the blonde up. 

“What...Eddie…” Dani panted under her, looking even more lost. She looked around herself, trying to get a sense of where she was and when she realized Jamie was there, on top of her, she just let herself relax back in the mattress under her. It was a dream. “Jamie…”

“It was just a dream, Dani…” Jamie relaxed her grip on her and just slipped on her side beside the blonde, not wanting to crowd her anymore. “You’re alright.” She cradled the side of her face with her forearm and Dani just followed her along, nestling herself into the circle of her arms. “It was just a dream.” Jamie’s lips found her damp forehead. She should get her a towel or maybe into the shower, but it could just wait. 

“It felt so real. He was there, dying…” Dani fought the images out of her head and just focused on Jamie. She focused on the sound of her voice. On the way she was caressing her hair back. On the way she was warm against her. On the way she felt safe. On the way she was alive. 

“So, Eddie is your ex-boyfriend.” Jamie kept on stroking her hair back, feeling her burrow closer into her. They were so close that she felt her own chest move, whenever Dani exhaled her breath against her neck. 

“He had proposed to me but I couldn’t…” Dani clenched her hands in tight fists. “I couldn’t give him what he wanted from me. I couldn’t love him the way he deserved to be loved and he died...because of me. If I hadn’t broken up with him, he’d be still alive.” She wiped the lone tear escaping her eyes. She wiped it with her palm and went to do it again, but Jamie’s slightly callous palm beat her to it. “Am I going insane?” 

“You’re surprisingly sane, all things considered.” She tilted her head upwards and leaned down to brush a tentative kiss on her trembling lips. “How are you still standing, Poppins?” She brushed her thumb over her cheek, ever so tenderly. 

“I’m lying down, actually…” Dani chuckled through the tears. She leaned in to find Jamie’s mouth with hers. She leaned in to be sure it wasn’t another dream. To be sure she was really there, in Jamie’s bed with her arms holding her safely. Pushing against her chest, she slipped back on top of the brunette who just tangled her fingers into her hair and guided her mouth back on hers. She held her there while their mouths parted to find deeper ways to connect. 

“Are you sure?” Jamie broke the kiss to stare up into her eyes. They had done it before, of course. But not like this. Not after what had happened. It felt different yet it was the same thing they had done for hours and for days. 

“Yeah.” Dani pulled the covers over their shoulders and cradled Jamie’s head with her own forearms. She cradled her and let Jamie cradle her in her own arms. 

She let Jamie hold her close, while her tears stopped running down her cheeks and the cold memories of Eddie were slowly replaced by the warmth of Jamie’s touch. 

_ I want auroras and sad prose _

_ I want to watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet _

_ 'Cause I haven't moved in years _

_ And I want you right here _

_ A red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground _

_ With no one around to tweet it _

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked and if so, please remember to leave your comment. Every review is very much appreciated!


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